IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi stated that the process of restoring external power supply to the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has begun, UNN reports with reference to the IAEA.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi announced today that, following frequent contacts with both sides over recent weeks to address the issue of the latest loss of off-site power at the facility during the military conflict, the process of restoring external power supply to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has begun.
The IAEA emphasized that since the ZNPP lost all grid access again last month, Director General Grossi has been engaging with the Russian Federation and Ukraine on specific proposals aimed at enabling the plant to receive the off-site power necessary to cool its six shut-down reactors and spent fuel.
The focus is on creating the necessary safety conditions for repair work on the damaged sections of the 750 kilovolt (kV) Dniprovska and 330 kV Ferroalloy-1 power lines, located on opposite sides of the front line near the ZNPP.
"After intensive consultations, the process of restoring off-site power supply – via the "Dniprovska" and "Ferroalloy-1" lines – has begun," said Director General Grossi.
"While it will still take some time before the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant's connection to the grid is fully restored, both sides are constructively cooperating with us to achieve this important goal for the sake of nuclear safety. No one benefits from a further deterioration of the situation in this regard," he said.
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The IAEA emphasized that for the tenth time since the conflict began, the ZNPP lost its grid connection on September 23, when the last 750 kV power line was disconnected, almost five months after the last 330 kV backup line was also disconnected. Both sides blamed military activity for the damage.
Therefore, for more than two weeks, Europe's largest nuclear power plant (NPP) has been forced to rely on emergency diesel generators (EDGs) to power its cooling pumps, further complicating the already unstable nuclear safety situation at the site.
Seven emergency generators (EGs) are currently operating at the ZNPP, with another 13 on standby. The plant continues to rotate them to produce the necessary electricity, including for reactor safety systems.
Based on regularly received nuclear safety data, the IAEA team at the facility continues to confirm that no increase in coolant temperature in the reactors or spent fuel pools has been observed, indicating that the fuel continues to be effectively cooled.
Earlier this week, the team conducted a walk-through to observe the condition of the EGs, which were on standby at the time. The team also confirmed that the main service sprinkler pools, which provide cooling for the reactors and spent fuel pools, were operating normally. Radiation levels at the facility also remain normal, the team reported.
The team continues to report military activity at various distances from the facility. On Tuesday evening, team members heard five explosions in quick succession, which occurred near the facility and shook the windows in their building.
IAEA teams based at other nuclear facilities in Ukraine – Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, South Ukraine, and Chornobyl – also report military activity on most days.
On October 4, the team at the Khmelnytskyi NPP was informed that 16 drones had been detected near the facility, the closest being 5.5 km away. The next day, three drones were detected at the same distance north of the South Ukraine NPP.
The Chornobyl site still does not have access to the 330 kV power line, which was disconnected last week, reportedly due to military strikes on a substation approximately 40 km away, near the city of Slavutych.
As part of the IAEA's comprehensive nuclear safety and security assistance program, the Khmelnytskyi NPP this week received radiation reconnaissance meters, which were purchased with funding from the Czech Republic and Japan. This was the 159th equipment delivery to date, with the value of all deliveries during the conflict now totaling 20 million euros.